Korky

I’m sad to say that this is not my first hit & run in general, but it is my first in a parking lot. Fortunately most of this was able to buff out, but somewhere out there someone has some bad karma coming their way. Boooo on you!

First time indoor rock climbing.

A new rock climbing gym, Central Rock Gym, recently opened in my neighborhood. To entice the neighbors to come check the place out, we were sent a flyer that had an invite to come to a free belay class with gear and also receive a free day pass to climb on our own. The BF and I decided why the heck not and hustled over on Saturday.

I don’t want to do a full review of my experience or the gym just quite yet, but I can say that so far…I LOVE IT!

I discovered that I’m pretty hand when it comes to knots and technical instructions. I’ve always been pretty handy and able to put things together and that translated well into picking up the knots and safety precautions quickly.

During our belay class we were split into two groups. I have a tendency to be a little bossy (surprise!) so the BF and I split up to learn on our own. We learned how to do the basics and then it was time to climb. I was the first one to go! I was so nervous climbing up the wall. I made it about 5 feet and started to just freak out. I have never been scared of heights, but I’ve also ever been hanging to the side of a rock structure with just my hands. Part of the class was to learn how to fall back. Once I did that for the first time and realized that I wasn’t going to fall to my death, my anxiety subsided for a bit.

By the 3rd or 4th climb up the wall my hands were ON FIRE. Seriously. Brutal!

Once the class was over it was our turn to explore the gym on our own and do our own climbing. We decided to check out the bouldering wall, which is basically climbing on a shorter wall without ropes. It is seriously hardcore.

Once the BF had tried his luck at the wall and actually made it to the top and OVER the wall, I decided to give it a try. I gave him my phone and told him to take a pic.

Seriously?! I’m not even off the mat! This was not staged. I was actually in this exact position for what felt like 10 minutes. I couldn’t figure out where to put my hand next. I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this photo. First, not my best angle since he was on the floor and I was up on this mat thingy. Second, you can clearly see that I’m not getting very far.

Once I got over my fear of no ropes, I gave it a real try and up a decent part of the wall.

I didn’t make it over the top though! A new goal for next time! I am definitely going back and it will be soon. The BF was a natural at the climbing and I’m excited for us to give it another try together. A more in depth review of the gym coming soon!

First time taking the BF to Newport.

We decided to go as a last minute road trip and our first stop was at The Breakers, which is a Vanderbilt mansion. They offer an audio tour of the magnificent house that I absolutely love. I’ve been a few times but I always hear something new on the tour.

This was the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt. I’ve decided that I totally need a summer home.

It was a little overcast, but still a lovely day for checking out the grounds overlooking the ocean.

I also allowed the BF to convince me that riding bikes around town would be a good idea. At first, I was a little cranky. I don’t like to sweat in my good clothes and riding in traffic is not my good time. I eventually got the hang of it though and managed to have a good time!

Because we had the bikes we were able to get around quickly and get places that were a little more difficult to find parking, including a dive bar/restaurant that I had heard good things about.

Pour Judgement. Heh. I love it. Clever names on restaurants make me smile. The food was fantastic! Definitely a recommend.

Slight random photo moment…this is one of my favorite pictures from Newport. I took it about 6 years ago and still love it!

First time protesting a home workout.

Typically Korky just humps his stuffed animals all around the living room while I do my home workout thing. This time I left the room to get a water and came back to this. He had ENOUGH of being ignored and this certainly got my attention. Cute little mutt. 😉

I hope you all had a good weekend! I started the week out with some serious hot power yoga yesterday and tonight is the start of Week 2 for Ultimate Bootcamp. Yesss! I’m ready! This is the week I reach 50. I can just feel it!

Since I returned from vacation my little love muffin, Korky, has been a big ol’ snugglebug. I love when he gets in the mood to actually like me instead of just tolerate me. Most of the time he could do without me, until it comes time for dinner. I’ve been taking advantage of all the snuggles and have been petting him nonstop. He is just too cute. *Insert me making that little squishy face noise*

Since my love for the dog is strong, lets do a special dog friendly edition of Fave Five Friday!

Fave Five Friday: The Mutt Edition

1. I’m starting off the list with something that, as a dog owner, I absolutely love. Korky hates this thing. The FURMINATOR. It is a simple looking brush, but this sucker gets to the root of those loose hairs. What would normally end up on your floor or black pants, is removed with a simple brush. I can’t promise that lab owners will see as much success (so.much.hair), but for dogs like Kork this works perfectly!

2. Finding the right food for Korky has been a lifelong process. Heh. That is how I know he is part of the family. We have tried a few types of food over the years with success with just one. It was working great until they changed the formula. The result? Dog crap all over my house for 3 days straight. It was awful. After a big huge professional scrub down of the place I started to research food that people had found success with. Wellness Pet Food came up a few times. We use the Complete Health Super5Mix Lamb, Barley, and Salmon Recipe. Since we started the food I have been able to easily maintain Korky’s weight and his bathroom breaks are much less traumatic.

3. Professional Dog photos are a must for you dog lovers. I know people think it is silly that I had them done, but honestly…they are just perfect. Dog Breath Photography could not have captured Korky’s spirit and personality better. If you are in the market for a photographer who specializes in getting hard to train, overactive, slightly blind and deaf dogs to cooperate for photos then this is the lady for you.

4. I’m a lover of dog clothing. I will admit it. I appreciate a good dog costume. I love a cute and witty dog shirt. But nothing is as cute as a dog in a bow tie. This is the current one that I am in love with from Etsy shop LittleBlueFeathers.

5. Just like I love supporting my local food and wine providers, I love supporting my local dog friendly hot spots. Two of my favorite dog related stores in town are Polka Dog Bakery, a bakery just for the animals in your life, and the LaundroMutt, a DIY dog wash station that makes clean up at home a thing of the past. Korky is a fan too. Two paws up!

BONUS!

In addition to all the great things above, I also love a good dog related event. This year dogs and their humans will be gathering together in Canton, Ma at Prowse Farms on the weekend of June 22-23rd for the first annual POOCH-A-PALOOZA Festival.

The weekend will be filled with live music, food trucks, interactive kids’ zone, and a large marketplace to check out all kinds of dog and human products. When this festival calls itself “family-friendly” they truly mean the whole family! Bring Fido and enjoy a lovely day with other dog lovers. Oh, and I can’t forget the beer garden!

Advance tickets for Pooch-A-Palooza are on sale now. Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $8 for children, and $12 for seniors. Dogs are admitted free of charge but must be leashed. Ticket prices day of the festival will be $20 for adults, $10 for children, and $15 for seniors. Children 2 and under are free. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.Pooch-A-Palooza.com/tickets.

***GIVEAWAY ALERT!***

The lovely folks at Pooch-A-Palooza were kind enough to give me 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway! You and guest can enjoy the festival with or without a dog.

I always have good intentions to sit down to my computer on Sunday night, steaming tea cup in hand, and type out a witty, yet interesting recap on my weekend. Instead I find myself here on Monday morning with just a few minutes to spare and not really any clever words. So instead of trying to fake it, I’m going to give you the nitty gritty of my weekend.

Friday

BEER! BEER! BEER!

I went to the American Craft Beer Fest to do a whole bunch of tasting. I went with a list of beers that I wanted to try and many of those included Colorado beers. I thought of all my Colorado Blend friends as I sipped, sipped, sipped.

I was up and going early Saturday morning for my Total Body Shred class. I had a brief thought of skipping the class when I first woke up, but I knew I would regret it if I stayed in bed and stayed lazy. I had a new workout top to try out so that got me moving a little bit too. The class was killer and I came home a hot mess.

On my way to the gym I decided to give my new container of fitmixer clean energy a try. I made a TIU Meta-d type concoction and added in a little scoop of the fitmixer. I was able to get through the whole workout without hurling all over the place or passing out on the mat so I’m going to say this stuff works great! I’ll keep trying it out and keep ya posted.

I spent the rest of Saturday running errands and complaining about the heat. I can not be satisfied. I had to mail something and I realized that if I were ever to go into my own business I would open a shipment store. That whole packing up other people’s packages is a complete racket.

I strolled into the house around 4p and was exhausted. Rather than be totally a bum I decided to stick with the whole sharing thing I talked about in my “Goals: I Got Em’” post and let the Instagram world know my June goals.

Goal 1: To participate AND finish the NHerShoes Summer Shred program. It is a month long and I’m excited to try out some new workouts.

Goal 2: Dedicate 30 minutes each and every day to walking Korky. This is in addition to his usual potty breaks. Right now he gets the walks about 3x/week and I need to step up my game.

Just a note: My Spend Less May Challenge went swimmingly. I will have a full update in a couple of days!

I spent Saturday night on my butt parked in front of the couch just watching tv and painting my nails. It was lovely.

Oh, and Korky turned 13. I’m not actually sure when his birthday is so when I adopted him many years ago I just guessed what his birthday would be. I get all teary-eyed thinking about all of our years together. I should tell you folks how we can to be A Girl & Her Mutt, huh?!

I totally crapped out and skipped Zumba. I was tired and that extra 30-40 minutes of sleep before I needed to get up was just what I needed. I was scheduled to go to a brunch with the Boston Brunchers at 11:30 and I knew it was going to be pushing it to be showered and ready to go after Zumba. Without it I was able to leisurely get ready and stroll out the door.

Do those glasses look familiar? Yep. I treated myself to my Currently: Wish List item, Oakley Caveats. I used all the money I have won over the past couple of months through DietBet to purchase these. BOOM. Weight loss pays off in more ways than one.

Brunch was had at Vine Brook Tavern in Lexington, Ma. I will have a big ol’ pretty review of this brunch but here are a few of the highlights.

By the time I rolled home after brunch it was the perfect time to take a nap. Korky and I passed out in my air conditioned bedroom and totally zoned out for a few hours. I can’t remember the last time I truly took a nap. It was glorious!

When I woke up I had quite a bit of energy so I decided to bust out the Body Pump videos and pump through one of the longer routines. My hamstrings are officially done for the next week or so because of all the deadlifts I’ve done over the weekend. My shred teacher keeps mentioning that everyone will get an onion butt from this move. What if I don’t want an onion?! What if I want something a little bit smaller?! Sigh.

The rest of the evening I pretended to pack and then called it a night.

Tomorrow morning I am heading out bright and early to San Diego for the week. I’m so excited! Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter for a fun little look into my trip! I am planning on enjoying some yummy Mexican food, making my return to biking on the road, and all kinds of other fun things. 😉